Unfortunately not a good night for R. In the morning, I had to arrange the laundry; he still has troubles with the orchestra, they are raising the terms so high that the and the conditions regarding these are raised to such an extent that the costs are considerably increased. A Mr. von Sydow[1] writes from Hamburg about the Logier[2] method, because he has read in the autobiography that R. studied composition in this manner; he has searched for this method everywhere but has been unable to find it! Mr. R. responds to him in good spirits. Pleasant weather, spring air, many birds outside, though if only life were not so burdensome and one could wholly devote oneself to a single pursuit. –
In the evening, we read Gfrörer;. R., whose thoughts are often occupied with the history of conversion to Catholicism, attributes this step to the dreadful philosophy; had Gfrörer known Schopenhauer, he would likely never have taken such a step.
“For Leubald and Adelaïde, I now wanted to write music similar to Beethoven’s for Goethe’s Egmont; in particular, the very different types of ghostly apparitions belonging to the world of spirits should only receive their proper color through the corresponding musical accompaniment. To make it possible for me to quickly acquire the necessary skills for composing, Logier’s Method of the basso continuo was supposed to teach me, which had been recommended to me in a musical lending library as a practical textbook for the rapid learning of composition.”
Richard Wagner, Mein Leben (My Life)
[1] Herr von Sydow: Hans or Emil von Sydow, Hamburg.
[2] The Logier Method: Johann Bernhard Logier (1777 – 1876), German music teacher working in Ireland and England, RW mentions his method in “My Life”.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.